Stockton Basketball Teams Poised For Tournaments

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey men and women's basketball teams will be hitting the road following the holiday weekend.

The Stockton men (5-3 overall, 2-1 in the conference) will play in the Staten Island Tournament of Heroes beginning Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.  The Ospreys will tip off against Anderson (IN).  The next day they face either Staten Island or the University of Dallas.

The Lady Ospreys (7-3, 3-0) will hit the road at the Lycoming Classic. They will play Lebanon Valley on Wednesday at 8 p.m.

With the holiday break just before the road to Lebanon, Coach Joe Fussner wants his players to come back injury free and in shape.

"We need to keep our conditioning level up," said Fussner.

Many players on the team have maintained solid numbers. 

Led by Junior center LaTonya Oliver, the Ospreys have proven themselves to be solid on all sides of the court.  Oliver has averaged 14.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and is this week's NJAC player of the week.  Right behind her is senior Julia Fagan with 11.6 points and 8.6 rebounds per game.  Junior Nancy White and sophomore Che'Na Thompson have put up 11 and 9.3 points per game, respectively. 

With 9.2 points per game, freshman Lauren Alwan has proven to be a "pleasant surprise," as Fussner put it.  Alwan was also an NJAC player of the week at the beginning of this season. 

Fussner attributes the team's recent loss to Muhlenberg to getting beat at the 3-point line, which will be the team's focus for the tournament.

"Lebanon Valley is a 3-point shooting team," said Fussner. "We lost to Muhlenburg because they made so many 3 pointers. We need to work hard defending the 3-point line.

"We have to get back on our horse.  We're anxious to get started, and we look forward to getting back in January, and look forward to playing in our conference."